Moral Monday Reunited (Apr 29) summary and next Moral Movement events

The “Moral Monday Reunited” event on April 29, 2015, marked the 2 year anniversary of the first Moral Monday protest of immoral and cruel policies coming out of the NC General Assembly in Raleigh. Greensboro’s News and Record covered the event in “20 arrested at NC Legislature protesting GOP’s policies”. I believe my friend, Rabbi Ari Margolis, had the perfect response to a comment in the article. This response was part of the speech he gave onstage, completely independent of the article or the comment. At the end of the article, Todd Poole complains that the demonstrators are hiding under ‘a false cloak of morality.’ Ironic, since Moral Monday demonstrators are protesting immoral (and cruel) actions of the NCGA.

Rabbi Margolis said in his speech, “While I believe in the separation of church and state, as long as there are those passing a legislative agenda in the name of their religious ideas and beliefs, we have the obligation to stand up and let them know that they do not own a monopoly on religious thought.

Our Moral Monday movement shows that all religions emphasize the importance of caring for the most vulnerable in our society. When you look at the budget – since after all a budget document is really a statement of values – it shows where the money is going, our state’s values and legislative agenda does not at all mirror such core values.”

According to the article, 10 people were arrested outside the House chambers and 10 outside the Senate chambers. Many of the singing and chanting protesters were wearing clerical collars. “The protesters listed 14 demands including expanded Medicaid coverage, increased public education spending, and a rollback on abortion restrictions. ”

NC NOW members from around the state attended the Moral Monday event, which marks the first big one in Raleigh this year. Also of note, the NCGA started locking doors to the NCGA buildings at 5pm (both the Legislative Building and the Legislative Office Building), and are trying to shift their schedules to work late on Wednesdays. In response, our protest days are shifting too, and are now called ‘Moral Movement’ events.

On May 13, the “Summer of Moral Resistance” continues! The Focus will be the fight to raise the minimum wage and secure a fair and just tax policy.

In June, the focus will be on women – both attacks on women, and how things should be (women’s rights). Next, plan to join us on July 6th, for a huge Moral Monday in Raleigh.

Meanwhile, Moral Movement events are going on all around the state, in the hometowns of the representatives who are doing so much damage in Raleigh. See http://www.naacpnc.org/ for more information.